John Wayne has earned his status as the King of Hollywood Westerns with his nearly unbelievable quantity of outlaw stories.
Wayne’s filmography is essentially a catalog of how the genre evolved; 1939’s Stagecoach launched many of the archetypes that would last for generations, 1956’s The Searchers represented a growing maturation that reflected more serious ethical issues, and 1962’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance explored the end of the era as gunslingers reflected on their place in history.
Wayne’s work was largely ignored by the Academy Awards, but his one and only Oscar win for Best Actor was for the iconic western True Grit.
It was only fitting that Wayne’s final screen appearance would be in a Western, but The Shootist is an essential film regardless; both a reflection on Wayne’s career and a study of the cyclical, all-consuming nature of violence that he had been so eager to distribute.
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